Daomu Biji: Restart

We all sat down by the coffin and started eating bowls of instant noodles while listening to Jin Wantang’s story. As he spoke confidently, he winked and touched his mouth, indicating that we could give our braised eggs to him if we didn’t want them.

The story he told was very unique because it had something to do with a legendary ancient king who was completely fictional. There were only sporadic records of him in “The West Sea Notes and Alchemical Commentaries”.

It was said that during the Eastern Han dynasty, there were a few alchemists who were looking out at the sea. They suddenly saw a mirage appear by the shore that was so vague, no one could see it clearly. Everyone immediately started guessing what it could be.

One of the alchemists said that it was a building under the sea from a town that was previously submerged by seawater; another alchemist said that it was a fleet of huge ships from the overseas Wuchang Country; another one said it was the back of a sea beast that was basking in the warm sun. In short, there were all kinds of theories, but there was one alchemist named Tianmu who said nothing. Instead, he went back and packed his bags.

When the other alchemists asked him what he was doing, he pointed to the distant cloud and said that the mirage was in the shadow of the cloud so he would follow it. When the cloud reached land and the mirage appeared again, he would approach it and happily meet the celestial beings.

Everyone laughed at him, but Tianmu didn't care. He stood with his bags by the seaside and waited for the cloud to slowly come ashore. Of course, after floating to land, the mirage disappeared, but the cloud miraculously didn't disperse. Instead, it drifted inland as if it had a life of its own.

Tianmu followed the cloud and traveled all the way to western China. It was only when he stood in front of a big stretch of water that he finally saw the mirage again. He found a fisherman who was willing to let him on his boat and then sailed into the mirage. There he found a country that was called the West Sea’s Falling Cloud Country.

The monarch of this country, called King Qin Huang, said that he was a prince of the State of Qin. After his death, he was named the West Sea’s Immortal King, so he established the Falling Cloud Country.

When Jin Wantang said this, he lowered his voice, "Do you know what this legend has to do with this tomb? Hand over your braised eggs and I’ll tell you."

I didn’t like the taste anyways, so I forked over my braised egg while Fatty poured him half a bowl of noodles. Old Jin took a bite of the egg and continued, "Don't you think this legend is very similar to another legend?"

"What do you mean? If the West Sea’s Falling Cloud Country is in western China, then are you talking about the Queen of the West’s Country?” I asked him. "Did this alchemist arrive in the Queen of the West’s Country? Or is the West Sea’s Falling Cloud Country another name for the Queen of the West’s country? Or is there some other kind of relationship between them?"

As I thought about it, I didn’t think that it was correct. The records surrounding the Queen of the West’s Country and all the other western countries around Kunlun at that time were basically myths. This story set in the Western Han Dynasty was probably just pieced together using other legends. On the whole, alchemists were liars who even deceived themselves.

Jin Wantang nodded, "It's true that this legend is probably fabricated, and I would have really thought so too if I hadn't seen this tomb. There’s one particular detail in this legend that’s interesting. When Tianmu was chasing the cloud one day, it turned black and rushed into another dark cloud. Tianmu got lost, but there was thunder coming from the dark cloud that guided him forward. When he looked up, he saw that the God of Thunder had appeared on the cloud."

Jin Wantang took out his phone and showed us the pictures of the murals he had taken. Among the countless people listening in the murals, there was a single alchemist. We could tell because he wasn’t wearing official garb like the others, but the clothes of an alchemist. The depiction was very detailed despite being so small.

"These murals either tell the story of the tomb owner's life, or they tell a myth. But even if it is a myth, these murals will still have the tomb owner’s visage on them. Such beautiful murals are bound to be related to the tomb owner, but there’s no doubt that they seem to be depicting Tianmu chasing clouds. Since this Tianmu was painted so small, however, that shows that he’s not the tomb owner. So, who’s the tomb owner?"

"Which figure is the biggest?" Fatty asked. We immediately got up and went to the outer tomb chamber to start examining the murals carefully. We soon found the biggest person. He was standing on a cloud, but he wasn’t one of the thunder gods. He wore a complicated headdress and luxurious clothes, and there were a lot of ears painted on one side of his head.

King Qin Huang? Based on the story, I secretly speculated that the protagonist of these murals was this person standing on the cloud. Only a legendary figure could stand on a cloud like that and wear fancy clothes.

In other words, the monster corpse in the coffin was the tomb owner, the legendary King Qin Huang?

Did these murals and this corpse come from King Qin Huang’s tomb? If the Yang family robbed graves by listening to thunder, did they also use that method to find the West Sea’s Falling Cloud Country?

"Isn’t this just bullshit?” Fatty murmured. “This king is completely fabricated, and there aren’t any other historical records at all."

"But these murals are evidence," Jin Wantang said. "Just think about it. If part of Tianmu’s legend is true, then why isn’t there any record of King Qin Huang in history?"

Fatty and I exchanged a look. "Those who told this legend hid the real information,” Fatty said. “King Qin Huang is a pseudonym." He looked at the sarcophagus. "Then who is this six-eared monkey?"

Jin Wantang nodded. I was just about to speak, when I heard a few popping and clicking sounds. I looked up and saw Poker-Face rotating his shoulders and relaxing his whole body. He was trying to adjust his body so that he could climb into the well under the sarcophagus.

"Bone contraction?" Jin Wantang exclaimed.

We watched Poker-Face get smaller and smaller until he could stuff himself into the gap using yoga-like movements.

After entering, he kicked the stone pillar and twisted his body to restore himself to his usual size. We continued watching as he shined his flashlight on the area right under the body.

"Mute Father (1), what are you looking for?" Jin Wantang asked.

"Land deed (2)," Poker-Face answered him.

I got excited as soon as I heard this and looked at Jin Wantang, realizing that our speculation just now was ridiculous. If it really was related to Tianmu, then the Eastern Han Dynasty already had land deeds at that time. We could find out who exactly was in the sarcophagus.

****

TN Notes:

(1) Yes, that’s literally how it translated. Remember, gotta show respect to your elders lol.  

(2) Could also be called “land coupon” I guess. I was only finding results here on Baidu. They were originally used as inviolable proof that the deceased owned that spot of land (and the tomb) in the underworld. They have distinctive Taoist cultural characteristics and appeared in the middle and late Eastern Han Dynasty. (It’s what Poker-face was looking at ~25:16 of episode 3 in the drama).

****

Depending on where you are in the world, Happy New Year (or almost New Year)!!!!